


Nature and Nurture

by Michele0013



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Multi, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-10 07:14:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7835218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michele0013/pseuds/Michele0013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Charles and Erik life experiences had been switched? What if Shaw had found a young Charles instead of a young Erik and what if Erik had been able to escaped the horrors of the Nazis?<br/>Mentions of past sexual and physical abuse of Charles. No rating yet, because I don't really know where this is headed yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In the Beginning

1940  
The train rattled along on the track as Charles Xavier sat holding his small suitcase on his lap. The Blitz had started only days before and his mother and stepfather had shipped him off to the country side and far from their London home. The train was full of children being sent to safety. Charles had never been away from his home over night and he was nervous about where he was being sent. 

The voices in his head of the other children were not helping him. Everyone was worried, worried for their parents, their homes and about where they were going. He struggled to block out the clamoring voices.

Charles turned to look out the window as the green English countryside flew past. _Prof Sebastian Shaw._ That was the name his stepfather had given him. This was the man he was being sent to stay with. 

“I knew him from University,” Kurt had said as he stood at the train station with Charles. “He studied biology as well. You can learn a lot from him.”

Charles gripped his suitcase closer. He planned to make himself as invisible as possible. His gift should help him do that.

* * * *  
“Look, mama!” Erik cried as they stepped off the boat at Ellis Island. “The Nazis will not get us now!”

“Yes, my darling” Edie Lensherr replied, pulling her son close. The escape from occupied Europe had been difficult and they had both come close to losing their lives. But now they were free and headed for her uncle’s house in upstate New York.

“When we get to Uncle Jacob’s home,” Edie said as they climbed aboard the train. “We must behave, I know you will, you have always been a good boy.”

“Yes, mama,” Erik replied as he climbed into the seat closest to the window so he could watch the world fly by. 

* * * *  
“Understand this, Charles,” Shaw said as he circled the boy like a predator. “Genes are the key, the key that unlocks the door to a new age. A new future for mankind. Evolution, Charles. Do you know what I am talking about? It is a simple thing I ask of you, tell me what color I am thinking about.”

Charles had only been at Sebastian Shaw’s estate in Scotland for a week when he had slipped up and revealed his gift to the older man. 

Charles hesitated. His father had told him, before he had died, how important it was for him to keep his gift a secret. But it was too late. He had answered Shaw’s unspoken question. It didn’t take Shaw long to determine what he was hiding.

“Answer me, Charles,” Shaw said, his voice somehow getting harder.

“Red,” Charles stammered. “Red.”

“Wonderful!” Shaw’s grin had a twisted look to it. “We will do great things together, young man, you will be my best subject and one day my protégé. You will be my greatest gift!”

Charles trembled at the words.

* * * *  
“Uncle Jacob,” Erik said as he stepped into the kitchen and saw the figure bent into the refrigerator. “You scared me, I thought you were a burglar.”

“Nothing to worry about, my boy,” the figure said straightening up. “You should be in bed. If you can’t sleep, I can bring you up some warm milk.”

Erik tilted his head. Something was wrong. The figure of his uncle was missing something. It took a moment for Erik to realize what it was. The small metal bullet he’d received in the first Great War was gone. No subtle, comforting feel of metal.

“Who are you?” Erik cried as he stepped boldly towards the figure of his uncle. “You are not my uncle!”

To his surprise, the figured flickered and started to shrink. When the metamorphosis was complete, before him stood a tiny little girl with red hair and blue skin. They stood staring at each other for a few moments before the girl finally spoke.

“You’re not afraid of me?”

“I knew couldn’t be the only one that is different,” Erik smiled and held his hand out. “My name is Erik, and you are welcome here.”

“Raven,” the little girl said, a smile forming on her face.

* * * *  
1963  
Charles had spent hours poring over the news clippings and files that he had gathered. Each step he took brought him closer to his prey, his tormentor. He still struggled to control his gift, but he continued to practice. With the right conditions he could hold three people still all at the same time. Shaw had been right about one thing, the more he stretched his gift, the stronger he became.

Now he sat in front of the Swiss banker who studied the Monet Charles had brought in as an excuse to see him. He was practically salivating over the chance of acquiring it. _As if I was too stupid to know its worth_ Charles thought. _He must think me a stupid man_.

“I’d be happy to buy it from you, Mr. Xavier,” the greedy man said, licking his lips. _Herr Schmidt would buy this for over £200,000, I’m sure I can get quite the deal from this boy_. Charles saw his thoughts and smiled. _Yes, Herr Schmidt… or Shaw… was exactly who he wanted_.

“Unfortunately, even a Monet in this condition is not worth as much as you think. I can offer you… £50,000… that is the best offer you would be able to get.”

“Oh I think you could probably give me more… or maybe I should just take it to your buyer,” Charles smirked as he leaned forward and touched his temple with two fingers. “Schmidt is it? I knew him as Shaw. Perhaps you will fill me in where he can be found.”

“No, what?” the banker said, his eyes widening. _Albany, Australia._ “How do you know about Schmidt?”

“You told me,” Charles smirked before placing a direct order in his mind. “Albany, Australia, I see. Thank you… oh and you will go immediately to the police and confess the illegal gold you have stashed in your safe.”

* * * *  
Geneticist science was not his first choice but after his mother’s death from cancer he took up the challenge and proved to be a star in his field. Tomorrow was Erik’s graduation from Oxford University and was lucky to have Raven at his side. The pub trip had ended poorly, the girl with heterochromia didn’t think it was quite so funny, and after a brief conversation, Raven pulled him out of the pub and they had headed home.

Graduation was a big event and despite his nervousness he knew he needed to sleep. There was a review panel that would quiz him on his work and while he knew he was ready, he didn’t want to be tired when the questions got difficult.

“Would you date me?” Raven asked as she stood in her bathrobe, he skin bright blue.

“Blue?” Erik asked, as if the thought was new to him. “You’re my oldest friend.”

“I’m your only friend.”

“Thank you for that,” Erik said with a grin. “You’re like a sister to me. You’ve never had a problem getting dates before, why are you questioning it now?”

“I don’t know,” Raven said flopping down on the couch next to him. “I’m just tired of spending all my time in disguise.”

“One day we will have all the answers,” Erik said pulling her against him. “Mutants are growing in numbers, and each generation exponentially. Till then we will find you some handsome young man, who doesn’t think of you as his kid sister.”

“Read your thesis to me,” Raven said smiling at him as she pulled her feet onto the couch. “Your thesis puts me to sleep right away.”

Erik laughed as he began reading his notes to her and it wasn’t long before she was sleeping soundly next to him.

* * * *  
Charles entered the pub on Albany’s main strip. This was the latest sighting of Shaw. He headed for the bar and ordered a beer which the grumpy barkeep set in front of him. He turned to view the nearly empty pub, his eyes settling on the only two customers in the room. The two men were drinking and whispering to each other as Charles approached. 

“You’re from Scotland,” he said listening to their voices. “Aberdeen?”

“You’re good!” one of the men said, tipping his beer towards him. “We came here with our employer only a few years ago.”

“I used to live near Aberdeen,” Charles said taking a seat with them. “I was ward of Mr. Sebastian Shaw.”

Charles smirked as he saw the affect the name had on the two men, who both paled. _Mr. Shaw will kill us if he finds out we let his name out_.

“Have you ever heard of Mr. Shaw?” 

“Name doesn’t ring a bell,” the first man said. _At least Mr. Shaw is in America so he won’t find out, especially if Burt and I put this little fellow in a shallow grave_. 

“Thank you,” Charles said, the smile disappearing from his face. “I’d rather you not tell him I’m looking for him.”

With a touch to his temple both mean slumped over, their brains turned to mush as Charles erased every thought from their minds. Charles turned to glare at the barkeep, who backed away in fear.

Charles pushed his seat back and threw some money on the table before walking out of the bar. He had a plane to catch. Next stop America.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twisted First Class continues. Charles and Erik are in a role reversal, Charles grew up under the thumb of Shaw while Erik grew up in Upstate New York with Raven.  
> Mentions of past Sexual and physical abuse in this chapter but nothing graphic.
> 
> No Beta so any mistakes are mine!

Moira MacTaggert sat watching as the man she came to for advice downed his glass to the cheers of the people around him. Erik Lensherr’s seemed to be the only authority on mutations in humans, she had read his dissertation on the plane trip to England, and while she didn’t understand all of what was written in it, the fact was he described some fantastical mutations… mutations like what she had seen in the Hellfire Club.

She approached Erik as he headed back to the bar. 

“Congratulations, Professor,” Moira said with a smile on her face.

“Thank you!” Erik grinned at her tipping his glass. “It’s harder than it looks.”

“I was talking about your presentation today,” Moira explained, taking his arm and pulling him into the seat next to her. 

“You saw it? And didn’t fall asleep?” Erik joked setting the glass down. “You deserve a medal.”

“I came to specifically ask you some questions,” she answered, brushing off the small talk. “I need to ask you if mutations like you described in your thesis may have already happened in people alive today.”

Erik stopped, his face getting serious as he turned to look at her. “I have no specific examples, of those particular mutations… Who are you again?”

“My name is Moira MacTaggert, I’m with the US government,” Moira said quickly, deciding to not quite reveal her CIA position or what she had seen yet. “There have been some rumors, rumors that if true would be ground breaking.”

Erik watched her face. He was good at reading people, and he could tell the woman was hiding something from him and he was curious to find out. He was pretty sure Raven and he were not the only ones and maybe this women could lead him to others. “I believe that yes… there are people out there with extraordinary abilities out there right now.”

“Would you be willing to make a presentation to my boss?” Moira said leaning forward towards him. “Explain your theory on genes and its connection to these abilities?”

“I think that could be arranged.”

* * * *  
“Still drinking champagne, Bob?” Shaw asked holding out the glass to Col Hendry as he stepped onto the yacht. 

“I’ll pass,” the other man replied, his face with controlled anger. 

“Well, so much for the small talk,” Shaw answered, with a tight smile. “I need to know who you told about our little agreement.”

“No one,” Hendry growled.

Emma Frost raised an eyebrow at the Colonel’s response. She was there to be a first line of defense for Sebastian Shaw, and she took this role seriously. Shaw was the key to future of mutant kind. With a quick scan of the military man’s mind she interjected herself into the conversation. “He’s telling the truth.”

“Excellent.” Shaw said with a smile. “We should finish up here and that ends our deal.”

The military man stepped back and pulled the grenade from his pocket, holding it up for Shaw, Emma and the others. “I don’t trust you!”

Shaw grinned and kept walking towards Hendry.

“I’ll pull it!” Stepping back until he nearly backed into Riptide.

“I’d like you to,” Shaw said reaching out his hand and taking hold of the grenade. “But I don’t think you will, so I will.”

Pulling the pin, Shaw grinned as Hendry’s face drained of color. Without taking his eyes from the military man’s face he took control of the explosion, absorbing the energy as he did. 

“You’re a monster too!” Hendry growled.

“Not a monster, your evolutionary better!” With that Shaw reached forward and released the energy on Hendry, watching the military man drop as he was consumed by fire.

“Well, that left a mess,” Shaw said stepping over the ashes left behind.

The barest flutter across her thoughts had Emma turning in her seat. Her mind scanned the pier and the surrounding ships.

“Sebastian,” she said as she pushed her thoughts out. “I think he’s here.”

* * * *  
“The advent of the nuclear age may have accelerated the mutation process. Individuals with extraordinary abilities may already be among us,” Erik said, looking at the bored, unbelieving faces in front of him. “Thank you very much.”

“MacTaggert,” CIA Director McCone growled. “You expect us to believe this crackpot scientist? Where did you find him anyway? You’ve just bought yourself a one way ticket back to the typing pool. We are done here!”

“I really didn’t expect you to believe me, Director McCone,” Erik said standing up. “You didn’t even have enough respect to pretend to listen to me. Perhaps a demonstration might be necessary.”

With a flick of his wrist, Erik sent the metal coffee container in the middle of the table sliding along before it lifted in the air and filled McCone’s cup again.

“One of the abilities my mutation allows me is to control metal,” to coffee decanter continued to spin in the air above the table as the men, and Moira, scrambled back. 

“Holy shit!” Stryker said jumping back and reaching for his gun. Every other man was moving in similar directions as they scattered in fear.

“Enough!” Raven cried even as she morphed into the form of McCone. “Sit down!”

The men stood staring, half of them doing double takes as they glanced at their boss.

“Amazing,” the Man in the black suit said from the back of the room.

“I want them out of here, and locked down until we can figure out what is going on,” the real McCone said, his eyes never leaving Raven’s face as she morphed back into the blond girl she usually kept. 

“I’ll take them,” the Man in the black suit said quietly from the back. 

“MacTaggert,” McCone yelled turning on the woman. “You go with them. We will discuss this later.”

The three followed the Man in the black suit to his car in the garage. Erik glanced sideways at the CIA agent.

“I’m interested in knowing more about this Sebastian Shaw,” Erik whispered. “And I’d like to help you.”

“Whatever you are thinking,” the Man in black said, “It’s going to have to be done from my facility.”

“Would you like a better demonstration of my ability?” Erik replied with a grin, if he was reading the man right, he knew what would interest him most. “If you do, you can come with us.”

* * * *  
Shaw and Emma lounged on the deck of the yacht, watching the fireworks just a small way out to sea. Shaw knew that all they had to do was wait.

“Professor,” the voice echoed in his mind for just a moment before he was surrounded but Emma’s diamond shield.

“He’s here to kill you,” Emma said standing up, her body glimmering in the moon light. 

Charles flinched slightly from the sharp points of her mind. 

“I should feel flattered that you had to find a new telepath,” Charles frowned as he tried to circumvent her shield. “One way or another, I’m going to get to you. Your Ice Princess, is just a bump in the road.”

“It is a very useful gift,” Shaw said standing up. “Normally I would remind Emma we don’t hurt our own kind, but you have been an inconvenience for a while now. Too bad I don’t have the ‘cellar’ anymore to reinforce your training. You always were a willful child.”

Emma let Shaw’s memories through her shield to assault Charles. The cellar was a not just a threat, it was Shaw’s own personal torture chamber. Charles could see himself through Shaw’s eyes, as he had so many times in the past.

The time Shaw had whipped him for not cooperating with him. The time Shaw had left him locked in the room and left with all the servants leaving Charles alone for the weekend. _Was it only a weekend?_ The time Shaw had made him hurt the maid that had giving him a newspaper, something that Shaw forbid, Charles was not allowed contact with the outside.

It didn’t take long before the memories thrown at him got much harder for Charles to handle. The time Shaw had told him his mother and stepfather didn’t want him anymore. The first time Shaw had molested him. The first time Shaw had made him sleep in the same bed with him, something that didn’t end until Charles finally escaped his clutches.

Charles shrank as the memories slammed into him. His defenses seemed to break down as Emma hit him with her diamond shield.

“This is the US Coast Guard!” the loud voice broke through to the yacht. “Do not attempt to move your vessel. Stay where you are.”

“Now it’s a party!” Shaw said turning towards the approaching boats. “Too bad it’s time for us to leave.”

“Emma…” Shaw said with a nod.

Emma turned with a grin and reached for the metal chain attached to the anchor. With quick work she managed to attach it to Charles waist. With a flick of energy, Shaw fused the chain around him before Emma slammed her diamond shield into Charles, pushing him physically back and over the side of the boat.

Charles struggle as he sunk to towards the bottom, the chains and anchor pulling him down. With a desperate, wild flailing he reached out with his mind to try and grab anyone he could to free him.

* * * *  
“There is someone in the water,” Erik cried running to the other side of the boat. He could feel the metal that had dropped off Shaw’s boat sink to the bottom. He could feel the struggling of the person tied up in the chain, even if the mind that brushed against his, trying to latch onto him didn’t alert him.

“There!” Erik pointed into the water, he couldn’t see but he could feel him. Leaping to the edge of the boat, Erik dove in and raced to reach him, even as the struggling grew slower and the mind brushing his weaker.

 _I’m coming!_ Erik projected. _Hang on! You’re not alone!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated!


End file.
